Maureen Sullivan, Long-Time Bedford Chamber of Commerce Director, to Retire

November 15, 2019
Maureen Sullivan expects to get good use from this putter, her retirement gift from the Bedford Chamber of Commerce after 23 years in the position – Click to view a full-sized image

When Maureen Sullivan joined the Bedford Chamber of Commerce, she took on the job as a glorified secretary for $6 per hour. Over her 23 years with the BCOC, however, she developed the role and the Chamber itself into so much more.

Sullivan will retire in mid-December, having created all of the Chamber’s now-signature events: the Prom Stroll, Flavors of Bedford, the Trunk or Treat, and the Holiday House Tour. More important than the events themselves, though, are the relationships with the local businesses which sponsor them.

Sullivan recruited Barrett Sotheby’s and Suzanne & Co. realty offices, the Goddard School, and dozens more business owners in Bedford and surrounding towns to support economic growth and civic engagement.

Sullivan took the job as a segue back into the workforce after her youngest child started kindergarten. As she recalls it:

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My late husband, Pete, asked me what I was going to do now that all the kids were in school. My answer was, Im going continue raising your children…” but it made me a little mad, so the next week, I looked in the paper and found a part-time admin job at the Bedford Chamber of Commerce. A month later, when they hired me, I put on a suit and said, Could you put the kids on the bus? I got a job.” As it turned out, it was the perfect career for me and my family; I was able to work part-time, coach basketball and always be home when the kids got home. I loved every minute of it!

She counts the Prom Stroll as her favorite event, noting that her Board of Directors at the time thought it was a crazy notion. The first year, she had to bribe her basketball team to show up and bring their dates just to get it off the ground. The Prom Stroll has since grown from those first 60 kids to the event as we know it today: an annual community gathering, an opportunity for the different generations in Bedford to connect, a class picture, and a showcase for the students in their finery.

Not everything has always run smoothly, of course. Sullivan remembers a particular filming of Chamber Connections for Bedford TV that went awry. It was about ten years ago, and the air conditioning in Old Town Hall had gone out. It was August and, Sullivan says, “it was stifling hot; add on the set lights and serious hot flashes, and you get one host that was literally dripping! To make matters worse, I was interviewing a young woman who looked fresh as a daisy.” When the segment aired a few weeks later, Sullivan remembers people actually calling up to see if she was OK! While the incident sticks in her mind as one of the funniest moments of her job, she notes that it did show her how many people actually watch Bedford TV.

Anyone who knows Maureen will not be surprised that her immediate next step is heading to Florida to golf through the winter. The current BCOC Board presented her this week with a commemorative putter, engraved with her name and the BCOC logo, to honor her dedication not only to the Chamber but also to her short game. Additionally, she says, she’s going to “work on my stand up comedy routine, take up yoga, tap dancing and traveling. I hope to continue my seminars on ‘Surviving Widowhood’ as a way to support others who have to walk that path and of course, spend more time with my grandchildren, kids, and friends.

“My friends tell me retirement is the best thing that was ever invented — I am looking forward to finding out.”

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